Storage-battery cell.



No. 673,652. Patented my` 7, Ism. J. c. CHAMBERLAIN & H. n. suTPH'EN.

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(Application led Nov. 9, 1900.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB CHESTER CHAMBERLAIN, OF NEW YORK, AND HENRY R SUTPHEN,

v OF HIGHBRIDGE, NEW YORK.

STO RAG E-BATTERY CELL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Original application filedSeptember l'l, 1899, Serial No. 730,

Patent No. 673,652, dated May 7, 1901.

076. Divided and this application tied November 9,1900.

Serial No. 35,969. (No model.)

To if/ZZ r11/1,0m t may concern:

Beit known that we,JAooB CHESTER CHAM- BERLAIN, residing in New York,and HENRY R. SUTPHEN, residing in Highbridge, in the county and State ofNew York, citizens of the United States, have invented certain nfeWanduseful Improvements in Storage Battery Cells, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to improvements in storage-battery cells, andparticularly to the construction of the cell bodies or casings and theconnecting devices, so as to obtain certain advantages in durability,convenience, and efciency of the cells.

The present application is in part a division of our previousapplication, Serial No. 730,076, iled September ll, 1899, and in part insubstitution of our application, Serial N o. 701,331, filed January 6,1899.

The object of the invention is to provide means for preventing spillingof liquid from the cell, while enabling the use of plates ofunusually-large size and at the same time reducing to a minimum thevertical space required for the cells. The invention also facilitatesthe assembling and connection of the cells of a battery, and a furtherresult of the invention is that corrosion of the connections andterminals is avoided.

3o The invention comprises means for main- A taining the cells insubstantially closed condition and for making the connections from cellto cell within the cell-body or interior closed space, so as to preventspilling of liquid and maintain the said connections in a non-oxidizingatmosphere, while providing for access to the interior of the cell andthe connections therein.

The practice for some years has been to 4o have an internal shoulderabout half an inch fromthe top of the cell and a flat cover on whichrests this sho ulder. The height of the cell above this flat cover issupposed to be sufficient to prevent accidental slopping of the liquiddue to the motion of the vehicle `or other support for the cell, and italso serves, of course, to keep the cover in place. It has beencustomary to seal the cell around the edge of the cover by pressing anasphaltum 5o compound around the edge. Our present plan is to do awaywith this iiat cover and to support upon the same internal shoulder arounded cover. The rounded portion gives strength of an arch to thecover and also supplies a place to put in sealing compound, ifnecessary. We Ind, however, lin practice that the cover made in this Waycan be so accurately fitted in the top of the cell as to make sloppingof the liquid practically impossible, and therefore sealing unnecessary.6o The additional height given by therounded or arch shape of the coverenables the use of larger plates. At one edge the cell-jai' and thecover are notched to enableaflat connecting bar or strip of lead to bepassed from one element to the other. The strip of one element isfastened to the T-strap of the plate in the adjacent element by aconnector, provision for which is made by a hole in the cover, and thishole is covered by a screw- 7o cap. The cover is put on after everythingis connected. The said screw cap serves to prevent the sloppng of theliquid out through the hole in the top of the cover, and theconnecting-strip lits the notch in the edge of the cell and coversufficiently tight to prevent slopping of the liquid at that point. -Thelead of the strip being slightly compressible it makes this jointpractically water-tight. The connecting-strip is slightly 8o taperedupward to enable it to be drawn from the mold, and when the cover comesdown upon it it cuts into the edge of the strip sufficiently to make theconnection fairly tight. To insure absolute tightness at this point,however, we may provide a washer of rubber or other elastic material,which being slipped over the terminal strip fits tightly on same. Theadjacent cells are placed so closely together that this washer is intight contact 9o with the walls of the cell on each side, thus not onlytightly closing the joint, but giving an elastic support from cell tocell. This Washer, being of insulating material, completes theinsulation of the battery, so that no part of the metallic circuit isexposed.

We prefer to provide a hole in the top of the cover to enable the liquidto be replenished without removing the cover, this hole being normallycovered by a screwplug roo I i v 4 Mv i which is only provided withsufficient opening to permit of the gradual escape of gas from the cell,and said hole being preferably the same hole that gives access to theconnection between the cell-terminals. As the cover fits the cellclosely at all points and is closed with the exception of this smallgas-outlet the result is that the interior space of the cell between thecover and the electrolyte is occupied by the gases generated by theelectrolysis, and circulation of atmospheric air being preventedcorrosion is prevented or greatly retarded.

With the old construction the adjacent lead strips between the two cellswere always exposed and the connector was placed horizontally, so thatthe binding-screw had to be tightened from a horizontal position. rPheconnector had also to be placed above the edge of the cell. In the newconstruction it does away with any exposed metallic parts extendingabove the cells, and the connector is placed in a vertical position,making the binding-screw readily accessible and so low that the entireheight of the cell, with the connector, is not as great as before with amuch greater height of plate. Also a much better electrical contact isobtained between the surfaces of the strips under the cover, and thesame are better protected from corrosion than in the old way, where theyprojected above the covers and were exposed.

The electrode-terminals extend out straight in a horizontal directionfrom opposite sides of the cell, and the terminals of one polarity are alittle higher up than those of the other polarity, so as to extenddirectly over and in contact with same without any bending of either setof terminals. This has the advantage that in connecting up the cells toform a battery the terminals always come naturally into their properrelative positions for contact, so that there is no danger of connectingthe cells wrongly, it being only necessary to place each cell so thatthe terminals which are being connected overlap or are superimposed onone another without bending either terminal. A further advantage of thisarrangement is that there is no bending of the terminals, and we thusavoid the formation of the cracks or fissures that usually form in thebent portions of the terminals,such fissures weakening the stripmechanically and electrically and accelerating the corrosion thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical section,and Fig. 2is a partly-broken plan view, of a cell and a portion of another cellembodying our invention. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line A A inFig. l. Fig. 4 is an end view, partly broken away, of a portion of acell, showing the passage for the connection. Fig. 5 is a verticalsection, and Fig. 6 a partly-broken plan, of a modified form of thecell. Fig. '7 is a detail sectional view showing another modification.

Referring to Figs. l to 4, each battery-cell comprises 4a cell-body a,having an internal shoulder b near its top, and a cover c, having adownturned liange d, fitting in the top of the cell and resting on theshoulder b. The sets of battery-plates e f, of opposite polarity, aresupported in the cell in the usual manner, and their respectiveterminals g h are located in the cell-space below the cover c. Theterminal g, corresponding to the plates of one polarity, extends throughthe wall of the cell to the outside, but the other terminal h isentirely within the cell. Notchest't' are formed in the sides or theends of the cellbody, and corresponding notches j j are formed in thedownturned flanged of the cover c, so that when the cover is put inplace these notches will overlap, leaving rectangular openings, as shownat loin Fig. 4, to receive the respective terminals, which fit closelytherein.

As shown in Fig. l, the two terminals g h both extend horizontally inthe same direction, terminal g extending through the opening k in oneside of the cell and-the terminal h extending from a point near theopposite side of the cell toward the middle of the cell, so that whenthe projecting terminal g from the next cell is introduced into the celland kover and in contact with the terminal h a coupling device,connector, or clamp` Z may be slipped over the terminal ends thus placedin contact, and its binding-screw m is then tightened to secure theconnection. It will be seen that this connection may be uncou pled atany time without moving the cells.

A cap, dome, or turret n is provided iu the top of the cover c toreceive the top portion of connector l, which projects above the mainbody of the cell. In order to enable inspection and adjustment of thisconnector or generally of the battery connection and inspection andVrenewal of the battery f1uid,this turret is made in the form of ascrew-cap, screwing into the top of the cover c, so that it can beremoved when desired, and it is provided with a knurled rim o tofacilitate such operation. (See Fig. 3.) Gas-outlets n' are alsoprovided in this cap to permit escape of gas, these outlets being sosmall that they do not admit the passage of any substantial amount ofoutside air into the closed cell-space.

A washer p, of rubber or other elastic material, is placed around theterminal g, where it passes out of the cell and into the next cell, theadjacent cells being placed so closely together that the said washer istightly embraced between them, and thus effectnally seals the openingthrough which the terminal g passes, so that no liquid can spill outbetween the terminal and the side of the opening. The notches in thecell-wall and the cover-flange are made to fit over the terminal strip gas tightly as possible, but to absolutely prevent leakage orspilling'ofthe battery iiuid these elastic packing-washers are essential.

The edge or corner of flange el whereit joins cover c is preferablyrounded, so asl to give IOO IIO

IIS

`dened by use.

@raast greater strength. and also to leave a space, which may be filledwith suitable luting, as indicated at q in Fig. 3. The arched. or boxform of the cover provides a space in the top of the cell above theplates, wherein the terminal connections arelocated inside the cell.This space is practically out of communication with the outer air, andin practice it will be occupied by the gases generated by theelectrolysis, and circulation of atmospheric air therein being preventedcorrosion is avoided or is greatly retarded.

We prefer to make the terminal strips g h at different heights, so thatwhen each strip is placed horizontally the strips of one polarity willextend directly over the strips of opposite polarity and no bending ofthe strips will be required. This also conduces materially to thedurability of the strips, as any bending of the strips tends to opencracks therein,where the corrosion will proceed more rapidly than itwill in a strip with an unbroken surface. On account of this freedomfrom bending, of the protection of the main portion of the terminalstrips by their inclosure within the cell so as to be surrounded by anon-oxidizing gas, and to the protection of the remaining part of thestrips by the rubber Washers p the corrosion of the terminals will be toa great extent prevented.

In Figs. 5 and 6 is shown a modification wherein the plate-terminals orconnectingstrips are extended in opposite directions,and theconnecting-strips from adjacent cells are threaded from opposte sidesthrough the connector. The cap n is provided, as before, over theconuectorlA m; but a separate gasoutlet and inspection plug or cap 7* isprovided, screwing into the top of the cell and provided with gas-ventsr. In other respects the cell is the same as in Figs. l to 4.

Instead of using a connector for uniting the ends of theconnecting-strips of adjacent cells they may be united by fusing orsoldering them together, as indicated in Fig. 7, where Z' is the unioncoupling or junction of the two bars, formed by fusing them together inthe well-known manner. In this case the junction is, however, made, asbefore, directly beneath the cap n, and may even extend up into thiscap, if desired. If repair or renewal of the connection is to beeffected, it may be done by removing the cap n, and as the metal of thestrips is exhausted in such renewals the point of fusion is displacedtoward the side of the cell, but still remains accessible through thecap-hole.

The lead strips or terminals g h are more or less rough, and when theyare coupled together by the means shown in Fig. l the contact isgenerally extended over only a portion thereof. Even with carefulscraping it is not possible to force the strips into thoroughcontact,especiall y after they have become har- We therefore use a'packing or calking strip t of soft lead, which is placed between theterminal strips, and on pressure being applied by the connector issqueezed against the terminal strip, so as to fill all depressions andhollow places and insure contact throughout.

Having thus described our invention, the following is what we claim asnew therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. The combination with a battery-jar having notches in its top andhaving an inside shoulder, of a cover having a dou'nturned edge fittinginside said jar and resting on said shoulder and having in itsdownturned edge notches registering with the notches in the jar andelectrodes within said jar provided with terminals, one of which islocated entirely within the space inside the cover while the other oneextends through the notches in the jar and cover.

2. The combination with a battery-jar having an inside shoulder near itstop, of electrodes contained in said jar, and electrodeterminalsarranged in the upper part of the jar, and a connector for connectingsuch terminals, of a cover having a downturned edge resting on theaforesaid shoulder and having an aperture provided with a cap to receivethe said connector.

3. The combination of a plurality of battery-cells having notches intheir tops and each having one electrode-terminal strip located entirelywithin the cell and another electrode-terminal strip extendinghorizontally through a notch of the cell to overlap and connect with aninside terminal of the next cell, and covers having downturned edgeswith notches fitting over said termin al strips to substantially closethe aperture, and connections for the terminals at points within thecells and below the covers.

4. The combination of a plurality of covered battery-cells, havingelectrode-terminals of one polarity extending from the inside of onecell to the inside of the next cell, and there making connection withthe terminals of opposite polarity, each cell being covered separatelyfrom the others and having a removable cover portion giving access tothe junction of the terminals, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of a plurality of covered battery-cells, having theirconnections all made Within the covered cells, each cell being coveredseparately from the others and having a removable cover portion givingaccess to the junction of the terminals, substantially as set forth.

6. A battery-cell having a long electrodeterminal extending outside thecell, and a short electrode-terminal which does not extend outside thecell, said battery being covered and having a removable cover portion inproximity to the short electrode-terminal, substantially as set forth.

7. A battery-cell comprising a jar, electrodes, contained therein, aconnector arranged within the cell and extending above the top thereof,and a cover for the cell hav- IOD IOS

IIO

ing an opening to receive said connector and provided with a removablecap for said opening, substantially as set forth.

- 8. A battery-cell comprising a jar, electrodes, contained therein, aconnection arranged Within the cell, and a cover for the cell having anopening above said connection and provided with a removable cap for saidopening, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination with a plurality of battery-cells each having aterminal strip extending through its side into the adjacent cell, ofelastic washers surrounding the said strips and interposed between theadjacent cells.

10. The combination ot a plurality of battery-cells, arranged end toend, with their opposite terminals extending in the same direction, oneterminal of a cell being located altogether Within the cell, and theother terminal extending into the next cell to overlap the terminaltherein,and coupling-clamps located Within the cells for connecting theterminals.

1l. The combination of a plurality of battery-cells, arranged end t-oend, With their opposite terminals extending in the same direction, oneterminal of a cell being located altogether Within the cell and theother terminal extending into the next cell to overlap posite terminalsextending in the same direction, one terminal of a cell being locatedaltogether within the cell and the other terminal extending into thenext cell to overlap and connect With a terminal therein, couplings forconnecting the terminals at a point Within the cells, and coverscovering the cells, and the couplings of the terminals Within the cell,and having removable caps over said couplings.

13. In a storage battery, the combination with the terminal strips andconnector embracing same, of a soft-lead packing-stri p interposedbetween the terminal strips.

JACOB CHESTER CHAMBERLAIN.

HENRY R. SUTPHEN.

Witnesses:

A. P. KNIGHT, J. GREEN.

